Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there.... Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief - and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes.

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Publisher's Summary

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there....

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief - and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

This is my first novel by Kristan Higgins to purchase and I am already a huge fan! I loved every minute of, “The Best Man”. It is LOL funny, and tender, and (best of all) ROMANTIC.

I was so taken with Kristan, that I decided to Google her. Her resume’ is impressive. Did you know that she is a two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award? And while she has authored at lease nine books, only 3 are available on Audible.

Audible, please take note…her overall star ratings are 4+. The more readers/listeners are able to discover her at Audible, the more demand there will be for her work. She is good!

Back to the review: After zooming through “The Best Man”, I purchased “Catch of the Day” and “Somebody to Love”. I just completed all, giving 5 Stars across the board for “The Best Man” and “Somebody to Love”, and an overall of 4 stars to “Catch of the Day”.

Kristan Higgins enjoys a talent for developing very realistic, in-depth stories, staring characters that are lovable, clever and truly funny. The leading ladies are all avid pet-lovers, which is even more endearing, while the male leads are dreamy alphas.

I really enjoyed this book. It was really funny, realistic and a very well developed romance. I felt like I really got to know all the different characters and saw them as realistic because they were all flawed. I can even see this book becoming a really fun rom-com movie. I definitely recommend this book.

One of the most memorable moments of The Best Man is when the groom comes out to the bride while at the alter, at the urging of the best man.

What about Amy Rubinate’s performance did you like?

Amy Rubinate does a great job in differentiating characters and the voice of the male love interest is particularly engaging and sexy.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me laugh out loud several times. Kristan Higgins does a great job of writing internal monologue and revealing her characters vulnerabilities.

Any additional comments?

Kristan Higgins writes funny multidimensional characters and sharp, hilarious dialogue. If you are a romance fan who likes that kind of thing, you can't go wrong with KH. This particular book had many passages that made me laugh out loud. The edginess of the relationships gives a lovely realism to the story while keeping a great resolution that comes about as the result of psychological healing. KH is one of my must-read authors.

This book had me definitely laughing out loud at several parts. And while it does get a bit serious now-and-again, its manageable and funny serious parts. When his ex-wife comes back, her dog humping hilarity, and the gay-ex thrown into the mix makes it a riot! Highly recommend and will definitely be coming back for more Kristan Higgins! (great narration too!!) Credit worth=absolutely

It's one of those made for TV movies kind of romances. At times, I loved it, and then at other times, I wished it related to the audience a little more. Definitely a good light read, a good beach read, but not a great solid read.

The basic plot of the story was great.... Young woman left at the alter because her fiancé was gay then falls in love with his best friend. But adding in the epilepsy and the crash that killed her mom went too far. Sometimes a more simple story is better.

This is an enjoyable story with some twists and turns. The author included enough story. It seemed slow in some parts but I think that may have had more to do with the narration. I enjoyed this book about this family with interesting sub plots. It has some humor. The beginning was good. It was good middle of road book. Nothing over the top, interesting subplots making you want to stay with book. The narrator at times seemed really good but she has that breathy voice, it can become tiresome. I bought this for the weekend listen. It's worth the credit.

It was a nice way to pass the time if you’re in the mood for contemporary romance. It has a bit of a chick lit feel.

Levi never expresses his feelings. He acts and looks like he doesn’t like Faith. She’s the trusting one who falls for him and continues being with him even though he doesn’t say the right words. All she knows is that he desires her physically. I wish he opened up more at the end.

I loved early on in the book the way rich kid Jeremy became friends with Levi whose mom was low income and single. My heart melted over their friendship.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR - Amy Rubinate.She was good when speaking dialogue. She has a nice soft feminine voice, but her voice for general narration and descriptions was monotone - like reading without thinking. Not good.

This was ok. Just ok. But it was less a romance and more a “slice of life” story, and the romance ended up feeling like a convenient hook-up between two single people rather than anything particularly special.

Frequent attempts at humour fell a bit flat for me. The H constantly obsessed about h’s “rack”, but then noted his ex-wife’s bottom was just as great. The two grandparents sounded bitter and unhappy as they constantly bickered. Their behaviour at a party the h arranged for them was supposed to be funny but I thought they were ungrateful, rude and selfish. We also had two teenagers constantly exposed to their parent’s attempts to spice up their sex life – that just made me cringe.

I can live with a decent prologue but here we have so many flashbacks it felt like the first half of the book was more flashback than current day. Then there was the ex-wife, conveniently dismissed at the end, but to me that seemed the stronger romance. The H admitted he wanted to sleep with her the first time they met, was thinking marriage and kids three days later, and was devastated when she left. Whereas he more or less disliked the h for most of the book, was uncomfortable spending time with her family and felt “awkward” when trying to console her when she was upset. Comforting her seemed like hard work to him – not exactly a sign of true love!

This is a very well written book, as I would expect from this writer, and the narration was great. But it just lacked that spark of excitement, that feeling of chemistry. It just seemed a bit “wrong” in so many places – the gay ex-fiancé was supposed to be so perfect, but in the end it felt so overdone that I would have been more convinced if he turned into a psychopathic serial killer.

However my biggest peeve is the whole “gay fiancé” story line. Her fiancé refused to admit he was gay – pretty obvious when he has to fantasise about Justin Timberlake to have sex with her – and yet when his best friend stops the wedding, the h blames the best friend instead. For the next four years! She should have been thanking him!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Zacharoula

Limassol, Cyprus

10/30/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"I expected something better."

I really got tired listening to it. It was way too descriptive for me and focusing too much on minor details and conversation which was not THAT important. I guess to make the storyline longer?I found it dragging on too much

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Book-Diva

EDINBURGH, United Kingdom

6/22/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"wonderful"

If you could sum up The Best Man in three words, what would they be?

funnycomfortablefriendship

Who was your favorite character and why?

blue the dog - you will see why and be prepared to laugh

What does Amy Rubinate bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

emotions

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when faith finally realized what happened the day of the crash

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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